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Newfield, New Hampshire— Respected filmmaker Ken Burns, whose documentaries chronicle American history and culture, has a message for Democrats.
Burns urges Democrats to restore his home state of New Hampshire as primary top spot Democratic National Committee(DNC) 2028 Presidential Nominating Calendar.
New Hampshire has held presidential primaries for both Democrats and Republicans for a century, and while Republicans held on to tradition in the final race for the White House, the Democratic National Committee upended their schedule and put South Carolina ahead of the Granite State.
The move creates unnecessary disruption for Democrats during the 2024 primaries, with the Democratic National Committee now beginning to debate which states will lead in the 2028 calendar, when the party aims to win back the White House in the race to succeed a term-limited Republican president. Donald Trump.
Ken Burns speaks at the New York premiere of “The American Revolution” on PBS on September 18, 2025 in New York City. (Michael Locisano/Getty Images)
Burns lives in Little Southwest New Hampshire The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee in Walpole Township, which oversees the party’s primary schedule, sent a letter to the committee on the eve of its meeting in Puerto Rico to begin considering applications from New Hampshire and nearly a dozen states to hold early primaries in 2028.
“I write to you today both as a Granite Stater who has seen firsthand how New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary has helped move our democracy forward, and as a historical filmmaker who cares about the future of our state during this particularly challenging time and believes New Hampshire’s citizen-led first-in-the-nation primary remains indispensable in this moment,” Burns wrote in the letter.
In the letter, first reported WMUR-TV In New Hampshire, Burns stressed, “I know of no one better suited to help begin the journey to preserve true freedom and reignite the sacred fire than the people of the ‘Give me liberty or give me death’ state. That’s why we need New Hampshire’s citizen-led, first-in-the-nation primary to allow the voices of ordinary people to be heard. Because there is no better or equal hope in our world than the power of ordinary citizens.”
Sign located across the street from the State Capitol in Concord, New Hampshire, marking New Hampshire’s century-old traditional role in holding the nation’s first presidential primary (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee who is attending a meeting in Puerto Rico, told Fox News Digital, “Ken Burns is a beloved and internationally respected storyteller in America. Ken is trustworthy, he knows his stuff, he speaks with clarity and authority and makes people sit up and listen.”
“Ken made a strong statement in support of New Hampshire’s presidential primary that will resonate with my colleagues,” Buckley predicted.
Coming up in 2028: Harris, Newsom, Pritzker come together for high-stakes Democratic summit
Over the years, national Democrats have toppled both Iowa – its caucuses The party’s nominating calendar stretches 50 years until 2024, and New Hampshire is not representative of the party as a whole because the states are predominantly white and have few major urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, the third and fourth states on the calendar in recent cycles, are more diverse than Iowa or New Hampshire. Nevada and South Carolina were added to the Democratic calendar two decades ago to increase the diversity of voters in the early states.
The Democratic National Committee is expected to decide the order of the 2028 presidential nominating calendar later this year. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
But New Hampshire Democrats have long pushed back, saying the state’s rich grassroots tradition, retail politics, well-informed voters, high voter participation and longstanding status as a key general election swing state make it the perfect place to hold the nation’s first primary.
The Democratic National Committee removed New Hampshire from the top of the 2024 calendar, putting the state in a tie with Nevada for second place, but the Granite State remains at the top. New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan adhered to a nearly half-century-old law requiring the Granite State to hold its first presidential primary a week before any similar contest, setting the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries for Jan. 23, 2024.
The Democratic race, which preceded South Carolina and Nevada, ended up being an unsanctioned election, and the Democratic National Committee barred the state’s delegates from that summer’s nominating convention. The Democratic National Committee later settled with New Hampshire and restored their convention delegation.
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The Rules and Bylaws Committee is not expected to decide on the 2028 schedule until later this year.
As Fox News Digital first reported last week, the rival Republican National Committee took the first formal step toward keeping the Republican Party’s 2028 calendar intact at its winter conference, with the Iowa caucuses kicking off the nominating process, followed by the New Hampshire primary.
